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Friday, April 25, 2014

Celebrating Good Things

Thanks to Ruth Ayres, we can Celebrate each week together! Tweet at CelebrateLu Link up here!

"There are exactly as many celebrations in life as we
choose to celebrate." Robert Brault.

I've often said my mother and I had a long
distance/telephone relationship. We lived far apart, and I couldn't see her
more than twice a year. I talked with her nearly every day when she was alive,
and I miss the conversations. She gave me a magnet a long time ago and every
time I see it, of course I think of her. It says: "Barn's burnt
down...now I can see the moon." So I celebrate my mother and her upbeat
attitude that I learned.

And I must then celebrate my daughter, because now
we talk nearly every day, and that too makes my life joyful. I don't visit as
often, but usually weekly there's a call from my grandson and son; catching up
the week and checking in is always a delight.

It was a good week of being in the classroom. Have I
shared that the teacher with whom I'm working was my assistant the final two
years in the classroom? We had a great week together, and I felt even more a
part of the group. I enjoyed working with the students individually, I taught a
lesson about questioning, trying to enhance their knowledge in narrowing the
broad question into something more specific. I started a book group that's
reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. It's a re-read for me, and
what a pleasure again to enjoy this story, and Gaiman's superb writing. The
book is a wonderful book for discussing detail and words used that set mood.
The students, this time fourth and fifth grade boys, love finding the juicy
words used, like scabbed and scuttled. I celebrate their
eagerness to find brilliant passages to share, and today one posed a
question I had not ever considered! Exciting stuff!

There is a group of teachers called "core"
teachers who are the teachers in charge of each classroom, five primary, five
intermediate, and three advanced school teachers. Other teachers have differing
jobs at the school, but these thirteen teachers are the ones who are the classroom
teachers. Each month this year I've led one meeting with this core group,
discussing various parts of teaching as I see connecting with the calendar.
Thursday I facilitated a discussion about teaching (can it be taught?) grit.
It was a good discussion, leading to more questions as we shared what is
happening now, differences in approaches among the ages, and more. Key
points, if you are interested, were "slowing down enough to allow and
foster habits of reflection is critical for improvement,"
"encouraging growth mindsets instead of fixed ones-per Peter
Johnston," and "finding the 'right' words that fit each
student," like "who is the one in charge here? It was difficult to
stop.

Other days were
filled with granddaughters swimming, finishing most of my dental work,
and writing my line for Irene Latham's Progressive Poem on Thursday. See
the sidebar for all those participating. Take the time to jump to the
latest post so you can read the whole poem, completed on April 30th, next
Wednesday! And as you see on the list, Tara Smith of A Teaching Life is
the poet who will wrap it all up.

46 comments:

Linda - it sounds like such a busy week. I love the perspective in the magnet from your mother. Made me smile. I can feel how inspired you are by working with the other teachers at your school. I had a meeting with a professional book club today - but it only consists of my Teacher Librarian and me! We grabbed coffees, had a little walk and talked about how the book we are reading relates to our work in Reading Workshop . It was such a great way to end our day. Have a great week!

It was pleasant to sit and read the flow of your words. The connection of moms, daughters, granddaughters mingling with the connections of teachers, students, colleagues. A strange connection with The Graveyard Book. I have read it as a read aloud few times. One year I had to stop after the first chapter, because a mom reported her 4th grade daughter having nightmares.

What a wonderful week indeed Linda. I love the color phone!! I am glad you are able to find such happiness and satisfaction in your work. It sounds like a very supportive and enriching environment. The progressive poem is fascinating to me. Hope this coming week treats you well.

Thanks for sharing your BIG and little celebrations! It's amazing when we sit down and reflect on our week. There is always something to celebrate! I would have loved to have been apart of the grit and mindset conversation!

Oh, I would have loved to have been in on the discussion about teaching "grit". I was thinking this in the context of working with new teachers, this week, Linda, as I was working through some issues with my mentee. It occurred to me how she wanted easy fixes, the "just tell me how to do it" view, as opposed to the "oh, so I have to work towards the answers, and discover through my own hard work," sort of thinking. In other words, grit! On another note - high anxiety about the final contribution to the KidLit poem. Talk about pressure!!!

Fun that you mentioned the grit of teachers, too. At the end of the discussion, we concluded that to "noodle" over these challenges, we too needed to keep going, to have "grit", & clearly we do! It is something that doesn't fit the "one size fits all" answer for sure. Yes, I know you have pressure for that line-yikes! I'm sure these next few lines will show at least a few clear paths. Best wishes!

I absolutely love the line on your magnet, "Barn's burnt down...now I can see the moon." I have a few friends who need this line right now, I think I will share it with them. :) And what a school you are in! I would love to be in on those conversations.

You post makes me smile. The budget line for long distance phone calls to Mom and sisters was an important one in my early married life. I loved talking to them, and today I'm delighted that I get to talk with daughter, son, sisters, brother and friends with no worries about the minutes. I too talk with my daughter almost daily. Although our west coast/east coast time differences can make it a bit challenging.

Oh Margaret, how nice that you gave a thought to those phone calls. I do count them as special. The process conversations are good, and sadly, too few. There just isn't enough time in the days! And the Progressive Poem takes us through April with such excitement. I loved your line, and can't wait for the rest of these days!

Where did I recently hear about teaching "grit" to students? Was it on NPR? Maybe a TED talk? I bet the staff meeting was a huge success! I wish I could have heard the conversation! I'm glad you are enjoying your time in the classroom. :)

So much in this post to celebrate. What a rich life you've built and maintain with phone calls, magnets and memories. Your discussion with the "core" group of teachers sounds fascinating. I'm so interested in the idea of teaching grit and questioning. Can grit be modeled. Yes! So maybe it could be taught.

Linda, I always love reading your posts. It sounds like a busy week, yet one full of happy things. I've been hearing a lot about grit too and am wondering the same thing...Is it really something we can teach? It sounds like an interesting conversation. Have a good week!

What a sweet, accurate little poem! I can completely connect. Even in high school, I grew close to my mom via the telephone. She and my dad were already fighting lots then, so they stayed at our vacation home in Wisconsin a lot to shield us from it. I still believe I am closer to my mom as a result of these conversations. Sometimes a voice on a telephone feels closer than a face across a kitchen table.

I love that you included some snippets of the conversation about grit--a conversation we all want to be part of, and here you've invited us right inside.

Thanks Christy, phone calls are definitely a part of my life, from the beginnings when we really did have to watch how long we talked, to now skyping with some. The calls kept us together in a different way than it seems texting does, although I do text my grandson. Interesting that you grew closer via the phone.